Building EPICS Device Support for HiDEOS

The EPICS device support for HiDEOS comes from the EPICS extension area. To retrieve the programs use CVS and check out extensions/src/hideos. The explanation of how to do this can be found in the EPICS source/release document. This document should give a brief explanation of how to build and use the programs in extensions/src/hidos.

Check Your Makefile

The first thing to do is to Check the Makefile.Vx to be sure that the TOP variable is pointing to your hideos_vx directory.

Source Files

Loadable Object Files

Three important files are created and installed in the extensions/bin/mv167 here.

  1. ldpp.o - This is the front end to vxWorks ld() for C++ modules.
  2. Hideos.o - This is the vxWorks version of HiDEOS.
  3. EpicsHideos.o - This is the EPICS device support code for HiDEOS.

vxWorks Startup Script Changes (st.cmdmv167)

Your vxWorks startup script file should look similar to the following listing. The additions here are loading the c++ front end, the vxWorks HiDEOS version, and the EPICS device support for HiDEOS. Remember, this is only a stripped down version of a startup script to be used as an example of how to load and start HiDEOS, a real startup script would have much more stuff in it. 
# epics code - same as 
ld < targetmv167/iocCore
ld < targetmv167/drvSup
ld < targetmv167/devSup
ld < targetmv167/recSup

# epics databases
dbLoad "default.dctsdr"
dbLoadRecords "something.db"

# this is c++ loader and new operator and global constructor stuff
ld < ldpp.o

# this is HiDEOS for vxWorks
ldpp < Hideos.o

# this is the EPICS device support for HiDEOS
ldpp < ../tmp/EpicsHideos.o

# load a program into the mvme162 card 1 
# xfd_app is generally the one you want
bpLoad(1,"hideos/install/usrapps/bare162/xfd_app")

# start HiDEOS
hideos_main

# start epics
iocLogDisable=1
iocInit

Running hideos_main() start hideos running, you want to do this before iocInit(). Running bpLoad() downloads the HiDEOS MVME162 executable and starts it running.

cat_ascii/devSup.ascii Changes

Here are examples of devSup.ascii lines for each of the device support in this directory. Be sure to run "makesdr" after making the changes. It will not be necessary to add all of them, only the ones you will use. 
"ai"  VME_IO    "devHideosAi"   "Hideos aiTest"
"ai"  VME_IO    "devHideosADC"  "Hideos PrecisionADC"
"ai"  VME_IO    "devHideosDAC"  "Hideos SysTran DAC128V"
"ai"  VME_IO    "devAiLove"     "Hideos Love"

"stringin"  VME_IO    "devSiHideos"   "Hideos si Test"
"stringin"  VME_IO    "devSiHideos"   "Hideos soi Test"
"stringout" VME_IO    "devSoHideos"   "Hideos so Test"

Creating databases With the Support Routines

As seen above, all the HiDEOS devices appear as VME links. The first string in the parm field must be the name of the HiDEOS task you wish to connect with. The card field must be the card which contains the HiDEOS task. Card 0 in the first processor in the crate, probably the one running EPICS/vxWorks. If you use card 0, HiDEOS will attempt to communicate with a task on the local CPU (just a note).

Industry packs present on the mvme162 on automatically configured and given names. These names are the ones used in the parm field of the link. The industry pack names are always prefixed by a letter (a,b,c,d) indicating the slot in which they reside.

Industry pack reserved names (the beginning x is the slot letter a,b,c,d):

Using the Serial Devices

The serial devices require a subscript to identify which port to connect with. Subscripts are specified like c arrays, so placing a-Serial[1] in the parm field will connect you with the second serial port of the dual serial in slot 'a' of the IP bus.

Using the SysTran DAC128V

This is an 8 channel 12 bit DAC. The signal field of the AO record selects the channel. The valid range for channel is [1,8]. In the simple mode, where an AO record is created with all default values, the valid range for the VAL field is an integer value [-2048,2048). See the SysTran user manual for more information. The number placed in the VAL field will be mapped directly into the output register on the DAC.

parm field format: "x-DAC"

Using the GreenSpring IP-PrecisionADC

The ADC requires additional configuration information to be placed in the parm field. Be careful if you are going to mix single-ended/differtial channels. This module will be updated soon to use a voltage range to automatically select the gain.

parm field format: "x-ADC,[SD],yy,zz"
where S=single-ended,D=differential,yy=channel,zz=gain

yy is an element of [1,16] for single ended channels
yy is an element of [1,8] for differential channels

zz = 001,005,050,500

Gain Info:
001) -5 to 5 V, 15us settling time
005) -1 to 1 V, 15us settling time
50) -100 to 100 mV, 35us settling time
500) -10 to 10 mV, 200us settling time (see reference material)

Using the Love controllers

The current support only does process variable/status reads. You must download the HiDEOS executable containing the love support. The love support on the mvme162 attempt to connect to the dual serial port 0. A HiDEOS task is started for you to communicate with called love. The string "love" must be placed first in the parm field as explained above. The format for the parm field is as follows:
love,{address}
Where {address} is a number expressed in hex notation which is the address of the love controller you which to communicate with.

Example: love,0x32
Set up communication link with love controller node 0x32 on the RS485 bus.
Be sure to set signal to zero.

Configuring Serial Ports

Run the following command from the vxWorks shell or startup script. 
ConfigureHideosSerialPort(char* device,int card,int baud,char parity,
       int bits_per_character,int stop_bits,char flow_control)
device is the Hideos serial port name(same as parm field), such as "a-Serial[0]" or "d-Serial[2]".
card is the MVME162 card where the device exists (usually 1).
baud is the baud rate.
parity is 'E' for even, 'O' for odd, 'N' for none.
bits_per_character = {5,6,7,8}
stop_bits = {1,2}
flow_control is 'N' for none, 'H' for hardware (don't use hardware flow control unless your device supports it).

Starting Love Tasks and Fanuc Tasks

Run the following command from the vxWorks shell or startup script. 
ConfigureFanucTask(new_task_name, card, name_of_serial_port_to_connect_to)
ConfigureLoveTask(new_task_name, card, name_of_serial_port_to_connect_to)

Example for starting love task on serial port 3 of octal serial in slot b:
ConfigureLoveTask("love_port3",1,"b-Serial[2]")

Card 1 refers to the first HiDEOS slave board.
Argonne National Laboratory Copyright Information
Jim Kowalkowski ([email protected])
updated 4/12/95